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Storm doesn't deter blind activists

By Andy Metzger, State House News Service

Updated:
03/21/2013 07:32:33 AM EDT

BOSTON -- While state government operated at half-speed Tuesday because of a late-winter storm, a group of blind people and their advocates took to Beacon Hill to advocate for more funding for Braille libraries, special education and transportation.

"I am thrilled to be here this morning. I wish we had a beautiful 80-degree sunny day, but I will take it," said Massachusetts Commission for the Blind Commissioner Janet LaBreck.

The state commissioner since 2007, LaBreck was recently nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as commissioner of the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration within the Department of Education.

"Each one of us knows here today that the last six years have not been the most easy of years in state government or in the history, probably of our country, economically," LaBreck, accompanied by a guide dog, told the crowd in Great Hall midday Tuesday. "So the fact that we are where we are today, I think you should all give yourselves a round of applause for the support and the collaboration that we've been able to establish together."

The group is seeking a lasting funding solution for the MBTA that does not involve a fare hike, which MBTA officials cautioned Tuesday is the likely course of action without additional funding from state government.

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A list of talking points noted that while ridership has increased throughout the MBTA system despite last summer's fare hikes, paratransit ridership has declined 16.2 percent, which is more than the MBTA forecast.

The blind activists sought $125,000 more in funding for the commission's Turning 22 program, increasing the special-education circuit-breaker line item from its current funding of $230 million to $255.5 million, and more funding for the Perkins Braille & Talking Book Library and the Worcester Talking Book Library.

"Talking books have probably been the single most important influence on my entire life," said Gayle Yarnall, of Amesbury. "Some people say we are what we eat; I think we are what we read."

Yarnall said she had never read a book when in her senior year of high school she was introduced to talking books, and began her reading career with "A Tale of Two Cities."

Most Statehouse events planned for Tuesday, including three legislative hearings, were canceled due to the snow.

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